


quicksilver

by lionsenpai



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, Monster Craigslist AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-28
Updated: 2016-09-28
Packaged: 2018-08-18 09:57:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,654
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8158072
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lionsenpai/pseuds/lionsenpai
Summary: Fareeha was beginning to suspect Monster Craigslist wasn’t the best place to find new roommates.





	

**Author's Note:**

> based on a prompt given on my tumblr. enjoy the ride y'all

_Teeth_ felt like someone had stripped a cafe down to its bones and dressed it with open wiring and metal tables as some sort of half-hearted apology to what it had once been.

The walls were bare bricks save for the black and white posters displaying early era movie advertisements. From the entryway, Fareeha could pick out _Dracula, Wolf of London_ , and _Faust_ among a handful of other cult-classics beneath the low light of the hanging bulbs, the combination adding a whole other level of Intentionally Edgy to the cafe. Considering Fareeha had almost missed the place because it was tucked between a tattoo parlor and a flower shop with nothing to distinguish it save a piece of laminated paper on a nondescript black door, that was saying something.  

Not so surprising was the general emptiness of the little hole-in-the-wall, its long but narrow lounge full of nothing but flickering candles that did more for lighting than the electrical lights above. _Mood lighting_ , Fareeha thought as she let the door creak closed behind her, the two dark shapes behind the bar only briefly looking up at her with slitted eyes before returning to their low conversation.

A sniff confirmed even through the stale scent of dying espresso shots: _not human._

But her nose detected something more, something her weary eyes had missed. An additional scent, one that Fareeha could barely pick up. Then that had to be…

Swinging her gaze toward the alcove made by the unwise decision to squeeze a bookshelf stacked with what looked like records - _actual records_ , Allah - into the already cramped space, Fareeha found the vague shape of a woman, her body seeming just a moment away from melding into the shadows of the place.

Dark hair, dark skin, but not without the ashen pallor Fareeha had been expecting. _I’ll be wearing a red scarf_ , the last message had said, and even partially color blind, Fareeha had no trouble picking out the crimson scarf tossed lazily around the woman’s neck.

_That must be her then._

She didn’t waste anymore time. With a rolling suitcase at her heels and an overnight bag beneath one arm, Fareeha took the most direct route possible, not waiting for the woman to look up from the dark drink she was nursing or the slick tablet on the table.

“So…”

The woman flicked across the screen of her tablet and brought the black mug to her equally black lips, the smudge left by her lipstick lost against the ceramic.

“Fareeha?” she asked, not even glancing up.

Fareeha wasn’t overly put-off. The trip into the city had been a long one, and she was just thankful for a place to sit. Taking the chair opposite the woman, she groused a low, “Yeah. Amélie?”

As if more disturbed by her decision to sit than her actual presence, golden eyes flickered up from the screen to meet Fareeha’s. There was a moment of judgement, eyes running over Fareeha’s worn leather jacket and the thick sweater beneath. In stark contrast to the immaculate make-up and rather intricate braided bun Amélie sported, Fareeha looked like she’d slept in her clothes for the last two days without a shower. Which wasn’t exactly untrue.

The toe of her thick-soled boot tapped impatiently against the ground as Amélie’s lips pursed, apparently unsatisfied.

Leaning back in the very uncomfortable chair and digging her hands into her jacket pockets, Fareeha let out a huff. “Yeah, I get it. Can we move on to the part where we say _nice to meet you?_ ”

This didn’t quite spur things on like Fareeha intended, but Amélie did hit the lock button on her tablet and set her cup down, leaning forward. “Let me guess. Down on your luck? Looking for a chance to start over? Went a bit _feral_ in the last place you were staying, and now you’re desperate?”

“Yes, yes, and _no_ ,” Fareeha said plainly. “But when you live two blocks down from the fellow who got too rowdy at a tail-gate party a bit too close to the full moon, you move out in a hurry.”

“Mmm.” Amélie offered only a exaggerated hum, the kind that conveyed disbelief in big, bold letters. “And you weren’t able to escape with your funds -”

“ _Actually_. I’m doing just fine on cash. It’s patience I’m low on right now.”

Amélie studied her at that, giving another purse of her lips that Fareeha was beginning to suspect was not reserved just for people she’d met over Monster Craigslist. Finally, she extended her hand across the table, perfectly manicured nails at the end of each thin finger. From the edge of her sleeve, Fareeha spied lines of black ink wrapping around her wrist and creeping toward her knuckles - a tattoo?

“ _Enchante_ ,” she said, working out each syllable like it was taking years off her lifespan.

Fareeha rolled her eyes but put her hand forward and clasping Amélie’s. “Nice to meet you too. Can we talk lodging, or do you have any other questions for me?”

Giving a surprisingly strong squeeze and then pulling her hand away just as quickly, Amélie said, “Rent is four hundred a month. Shared bathroom. No pets, which means when it’s time for your transformation, you need to -”

“Find a nice park to run around in, yeah, got it.”

There it was again with the pursing of the lips - wait, no, was that a smile? It was gone before Fareeha could decide.

“You don’t mince words,” Amélie said.

“I’ve had a long few days trying to get here on a _maybe_.”

“Would it have felt better to have someone from the internet make you promises?”

That was a good point. Fareeha was a little too tired to concede it with more than a grunt and a shrug.

“Well, now that you see I’m here and I’m not going to murder you in a dark alley -” Although now that Fareeha was thinking about it, Amélie had made no such impression, nor had she bothered to explain just what was in her drink _despite_ having full disclosure about Fareeha’s nature. “Can we move on?”

“First two months up front. If you don’t have a job by then, you can find someone else to room with.”

Fareeha arched a brow. Considering the ad which had pointed her this way was titled _NEED ROOMMATE!!!!!! DESPERATE!!!!!!_ , Fareeha would have thought there’d be a little more space for negotiation.

“That’s rather final. Your listing…”

“Was written by my roommate. You’re talking to me.”

Oh right. Three bedroom apartment - three monsters under one roof.

“They didn’t want to be here to help you size me up?”

“Don’t worry,” Amélie said, giving a dismissive wave. “If you have the funds, you’ll meet her soon enough.”

That was definitely an emphasis on the _if_ Fareeha was hearing. As much as Fareeha appreciated pragmatism, there was a pointing where cautious became plain old cynicism. Had to be an older breed of something then, or either entirely devoted to giving nothing without first getting. Either way, it was starting to rub a nerve.

“Fine,” Fareeha snapped, and she was grateful the two figures loitering behind the bar pretending to work were more interested in their own conversation than hers. “Eight hundred for the first two months? You have a Paypal?”

If Amélie was some kind of older denizen, she at least kept up with the times. While Fareeha struggled to set up the transaction on her phone, she felt Amélie’s eyes upon her, a rapt attention that felt distinctly out of place considering her severe disregard from before.

What was it Fareeha had been pondering before? Just how likely it was that Amélie was some kind of serial murderer?

A glance up confirmed only one thing: for the first time, a trace of something besides annoyance simmered in Amélie’s golden eyes. Fareeha paused in punching in the amount, meeting her gaze openly, but Amélie didn’t look away.

“What?”

With an easily discernible play at coyness, Amélie lifted her cup from the table with both hands and brought it to her black lips. Considering the steaming liquid within, Amélie flashed a true smile for the first time, her impressive canines doing little to narrow down the list of things she could be - save that she could probably kill just as easily as Fareeha could.

Taking a long sip, she gave a hum. “There is one more thing.”

The dedication to drawing this out was going to drive Fareeha up a wall. “ _Yes?_ ”

“As a matter of… Personal interest… I’ll have to ask you to disclose your blood type.”

Fareeha stopped what she was doing, her expression sliding from utter surprise to deathly serious. She straightened in her seat. The options for what Amélie could be just thinned significantly.

“I bite back,” Fareeha said, remembering every lesson her mother had taught her about those that subsisted off others. Ana Amari had friends of every species and did her best not to be discriminatory, but Fareeha had gotten the Sex Talk and the Don’t Let Someone Who Regularly Drinks Blood From Various Untested Persons Bite You On the First Date Talk starting at a very young age. “And if I do, it won’t just be for a taste.”

Amélie clicked her tongue, but the pleasure never died from her expression. “I’m simply curious. There’s no need to get riled.”

Somehow, hearing that didn’t make Fareeha feel better.

Narrowing her eyes, she said, “If you want me to finish this transaction, I suggest you put my blood type out of your mind. Permanently.”

“ _Oui, Oui._ Of course.”

Amélie didn’t look the least bit deterred as she leaned back into her seat, pulling her tablet with her. The screen lit up as she began to fiddle with the device, opening her own Paypal to prepare to accept the transfer.

Fareeha was beginning to suspect Monster Craigslist wasn’t the best place to find new roommates.


End file.
